It Begins!

I disagree with what the guidebooks say: it's hot in Quito! I'm regretting wearing my jumper and bringing my bloody heavy ski jacket to explore. There are some English looking girls walking past the window of this internet cafe wearing vest tops and shorts. I've spent the last 3 hours wandering round with the sun getting stronger searching for an internet cafe and dying for a pee. I've tried asking around but my Spanish is seriously pitiful and no-one speaks English. Eventually I found this one, and the guy running it had to ask a customer what I wanted when I was asking for the toilets! "Donde estan los servicios, por favor?" doesn't seem to work here. After a overlong flight it's been good to stretch my legs at least, I suppose.

I can't decide whether I was lucky or unlucky with my journey. Getting to Manchester Airport was the worst bit - it was the windiest day ever on Thursday and we had to shift tree debris off the road before we could even get out of the drive. The traffic was awful, there was a telegraph pole hanging precariously over Glazebrook Lane, Thelwall Viaduct was shut because two HGVs had toppled over, and a tree was blocking our alternative route. When I finally arrived, an announcement declared all runways at Manchester closed and most flights cancelled. Fortunately it turned out that mine was just delayed. For some reason I'm developing a real fear of flying, which wasn't really helped by the weather conditions, or by what I thought was a fun light-hearted travel journal about South America that I decided to finish off whilst waiting for my plane. It suddenly stopped being so light-hearted when one of the 3 main characters unexpectedly drowned in the sea off Columbia, leading to lots of philosophising about the meaning of life and death and travelling. Let's just say I was very relieved to make it to Madrid! My hostel was shit. The rain dripped through the roof onto some echoey metal thing right outside my window all night. Had to shove a towel under it at 3am.

Driving to the airport the next morning, Madrid looked really pretty, I wished I'd had more time there. I thought I might have had my wish granted when I tried to check in for my Quito flight and the Iberia man told me that the flight was over-booked. Apparently this happens often! But fortunately, he said, there were some spare seats, and I was just in time to get the last one. There was some mention of an upgrade to business class but that never materialised. What happened to the people who couldn't get "spare seats"?! The flight was long and dull, but I quite enjoyed "The Queen", and got through a lot of "Into the Heart of the Amazon" (thanks Tash, it's great!). I got a bit worried arriving into Quito about the box of chocolates and tin of biscuits I'd brought for my host family, because food was mentioned as something I'd have to declare when I went through customs on the forms we were given on the plane. I confessed to the customs man and offered them up, but he laughed and waved me on. I didn't even get an Ecuador stamp on my passport! HAVE to get one on the way out. (Managed to blag one in Madrid though!)

Sure enough, amongst the crowds of people waiting to greet people off the plane (it's a small airport and it seemed ours was the only incoming flight all day), I spotted a sign with my name on in big capital letters. It was held up by a small, friendly-looking native Ecuadorean woman, who greeted me with a kiss and a hug. Aww, I get to stay with a cute native family, I thought! She spoke no English at all, and my efforts at making conversation were just dire, so we waited in friendly silence for the car to meet us outside. It struck me how small everyone was - I felt like a giant! And that's saying something!

It turned out that this sweet little lady is in fact the servant of the family I'm staying with. In the car that met us were Pilar, a retired widow (I think), and her lovely 23 year old daughter, Maria. They're tiny too! Pilar speaks a little English, so we can say some things to each other, sort of, but Maria speaks great English. She's a student of Eco-tourism currently doing her thesis, and she plays football for her university team. There's no sign of the 28 year old son, who apparently works in the oil industry (which seems at polar odds with what Maria does given the damage the oil industry is causing to Ecuador's natural environment and native communities...). In fact, I think I've got his room. The maid (who's name I've forgotten, I feel awful) cooked me a yummy dinner of soup followed by pasta carbonara (no bacon, they know I'm vegetarian thankfully) and a salad, and then some black tea. I was still a bit wobbly from the flight so went to bed at 9.30ish - which meant I woke up every half hour after 3am. Felt very refreshed after a much-needed shower. The house - or rather, flat - is lovely, I'm living in luxury! I'm very much enjoying the double bed. And the family seem perfect. I just want to learn Spanish fast so I can actually talk to them properly! There's only so far muchas gracias and muy bueno (which are probably wrong) will take me in conversation.

It's 11.30am and Quito is busy. It's an amazing city, stretching for miles in a valley about 2,600m above sea level, flanked by higher mountains, which are often shrouded in mist. I definitely felt the altitude when I was lugging my backpack up 3 flights of stairs last night! After much wandering around, I have a few observations. It's more upmarket than most of the African cities I visited (the cars don't churn out black smoke and break down every 5 minutes, and the buses and taxis actually look safe enough to ride), and I've only come across a few street kids so far. There's a hint of military presence, but not too much. And although there are the few inevitable whistles and comments, I don't feel like I stick out like a sore thumb amongst the locals here as I did amongst the Kenyans, Ugandans and Tanzanians. The sunshine probably helps, but I feel pretty at ease for the moment. And very hungry...

I'll be impressed if anyone reads to here, I've written loads! Will try and keep it shorter in future! Right, off to find a Spanish dictionary and some lunch.